Winter's Fire
by crowbabyDincht
Summary: A bounty hunter has a history with the infamous SeeD of Balamb Garden... but what is her connection to the President of Esthar? Rated T for later chapters but rating may change.
1. Prologue

Authors Note: I do not own anything that you recognize from ff8 I do how ever own the plot and the characters Winter and Lorelei Kerian. There is a prequel to this story, if I get good reviews on this one, I might post it for those of you interested in reading it.

**Prologue: The Beginning**

A dream is a very big thing for someone who is unallowed to dream. It is hard to pinpoint the moment this dream was born, all I know for sure is that it was. Where did this all begin? How did I end up here? I don't know the answers to these questions and I probably never will. It's always hard to put your finger on the exact moment that your entire life began to spin farther and farther out of control. However, I do know the exact moment my life began. If I were a smart ass I would say "When I was born!" But, no, my life began many years after that. My life began, surprisingly, at Balamb Garden.

I can remember it all so well now. Even after all these years. It surprises me how just two short months could change your whole outlook on life. I was sent on an assignment by my Master, the leader of what we like to call the Organization. That's right, original, I know. No, we are an unnamed and unidentifiable organization of bounty hunters and assassins. I just happen to fall under both of those categories. You are probably thinking, aren't those the same thing? No, there are very small differences, but there are differences nonetheless.

**BOUNTY HUNTER: 1) A PERSON WHO HUNTS OUTLAWS OR WILD ANIMALS FOR THE BOUNTY OFFERED FOR CAPTURING OR KILLING THEM. 2) A PERSON WHO SEEKS A REWARD FOR RECOVERING VALUABLE PROPERTY**

**ASSASSIN: A MURDER WHO KILLS ONLY PROMINENT OR POLITICAL FIGURES FOR MONETARY BENEFIT.**

As I said, I am both. It just so happens an unidentified client hired an assassin to target the one and only Seifer Almasy. Never before had I questioned my work. Something wasn't right about this assignment, there was more to it that was being hidden from me. Rule #1: Never question your assignment. Rule #2: Never become involved with target. Get close but not too close. Let's just say in my stay at Balamb Garden, both of those flew out the window while it was still shut.

Many things happened in my stay there. Devastation is the only word that can be used to describe it. Emotional devastation that is. Apparently, I didn't do quite the satisfactory job as was expected by me. After all, I am the most famous in my field. Not to brag, or anything. However, Master sent his second in command, Matrix to assist me. Matrix was never one to play by the rules. His motto, "Bring them out by breaking them down." That was his plan to destroy the infamous Sorceress' Knight.

The first attack was on Headmaster Cid, the person I respected the most. He showed me that despite my past, whatever it may be (he obviously didn't know), I would be accepted at Garden and treated as an equal. Which I was, every step of the way. Thankfully, Matrix did not succeed in the poison attempt and left Headmaster in a coma, which he awoke from after two weeks, however I read in the paper it was a much longer recovery. The next to be brought down? A former associate of mine, Mariah Almasy. Yes, Seifer's darling little sister. Taken from the orphanage at the age of five, shortly before Seifer was sent to Garden. She was brought into the Organization, for the same reason I was, to be trained to serve in Master's upcoming army of Magitek soldiers. We were both injected with Magitek infusions, leaving us with strange abilities which helped us to be the best in our field. However, after a failed presidential assassination Mariah's memory was erased, she was given the new identity of Stell Katura and sent to Galbadia Garden with no recollection of the things she had done or the people she killed.

How did Matrix bring her down, you ask? He got to her daughter, Zelda Dincht. No one was more important to Seifer than his sister and niece. Matrix found a way to poison her, just as he had with Cid, despite the fact Zelda was only one and a half at the time. I know that she recovered fully, also, I know this personally. Zelda, the daughter of Zell Dincht was the second traitor to Balamb Garden, following in her uncle's footsteps at the innocent age of 17. Her life long best friend, Nathan Kinneas, Beside her every step of the way. Poor kid. But that's another story for another time.

Only one person rivaled that kind of importance in Seifer's life: Nicolette Rianna Branford-Figaro. More well known as Cole Branford. An orphan who was living on the streets of Esthar until she was caught pickpocketing the President himself. Laguna Loire took her in as his own and raised her. Matrix attacked her in her room after hours, putting her in the infirmary. The truth all came out, however, the night the final attack was to take place. The final showdown in the infirmary of Balamb Garden. I'm not sure exactly what happened, all I know is that the assignment was aborted and I was killed on the scene. The joys of Magitek... they can always raise the dead.

This is where my life began. I saw a world not my own, one I would die to live in again. As a free soul, not owned by an organization. I want that kind of life for my daughter. It's funny how I know exactly what happened to the people I encountered at Balamb Garden, but for all they know I could still be dead.


	2. Mission Status

Author's Note: again I don't own ff8, oh how I wish I did, but alas, some dreams are not mean to come true. Oh, and the character Lorelei, will often be referred to as Lei, I have had questions from friends about how it is pronounced. It's pronounced as "Lee". Just to avoid confusion. Thanks for reading!

Ch 1: Mission Status

_Heaven bend to take my hand_

_And lead me through the fire_

_Be the long awaited answer_

_To a long and painful fight..._

_-"Fallen"_ Sarah McLachlan

"Mommy?"

"Yes, Honey?"

"Why doe I have to stay in here?"

"It's better that way."

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Is the bad man gonna hurt me too?"

"Never. I'll never let him hurt you. Now, goodnight, Lorelei."

"Goodnight, Mommy."

Explaining a 6 year old anything is never easy. Winter Kerian thought as she quietly closed the door to her daughter's room. The hall was empty, thankfully. The red-haired woman crept down the hall, careful not to make a sound. As she snuck back into her own room, she breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she face another sleepless night in her almost empty room. All that filled the space between the four walls were a torn mattress on the floor and a desk that held mission files. No windows, and only one door. This had been her home for the last 27 years. Except for the two months she had spent at Balamb Garden.

She closed her eyes as she remembered that brief period where she had gotten her first taste of freedom. Of course, she had been sent there on a mission. To bring down the great Sorceress' Knight, Seifer Almasy. The main objective, however, turned out to be simply to lure Seifer's now wife, Cole, out of hiding. She smiled, though it had been a failed mission, only the second in her entire career, it had been the greatest two months of her life.

Winter lied down on the mattress, that was where she met him for the second time. The president of Esthar, and Cole's adoptive father. The first mission that she had gone on and ended up saving her targets life. She had grown close to the people at Garden. Squall, Seifer, Rinoa, the entire orphanage gang. But she had grown even closer to Laguna.

"Never get close to anyone. You are an assassin, emotions don't exist for you." She reminded herself. She had allowed herself to have friends, and that got in the way of her mission.

A knock on her door brought her back to present time. "Yes?" She answered the door to find Matrix, a man in his early forties, standing in the hall. "What is it?"

Matrix flashed her an evil grin that made her sick to her stomach. "I have a mission for you."

Winter had followed Matrix down the halls of the Organization's Headquarters. They were now sitting in the dim-light conference room. To Winter, it seemed more like it had once been a boiler room. Though it didn't matter that there were no windows in any of the rooms, the entire headquarter's was underground anyway. "Here." Matrix slid a file across the cold steel table to her. Hesitantly, she opened it. The picture pinned to the first page made her heart jump into her throat. "Is there a problem?"

"No, Sir." Winter swallowed. "What is the mission?"

"Laguna Loire, Estharian President, is getting suspicious."

"Sir?" Winter questioned, confused on what her friend could possibly suspicious about. For all Laguna knew, headquarter's was destroyed shortly after the failed attempt on Seifer's life.

"Since your little incident with Cole Branford, the Organization has had to keep quiet. I recently read an article, written by the dear president, about the Organization. He knows too much."

"Sir," Winter dared, "What could he possibly know?"

"I'm not precisely sure, and that is where you come in. You are to go see your 'old friend'. Find out what he knows. And you will destroy him."

Winter tried not to show her fear. "But.. Sir..?"

"No questions!" Matrix snapped. "You leave tomorrow morning."

"Then Lorelei comes with me." She held her head high. Matrix simply laughed, it was a cold, sinister chuckle that cut her like a knife.

"You think I'm that stupid?" Matrix leaned across the table to look her directly in the eyes. She could feel his breath on her face and fought back the urge to spit in his eye. "The girl stays here."

She stood, moving away from him. "I am not leaving without my daughter."

It hit her like a rock. Before she knew what had happened, she was laying on the floor clutching the side of her head. Matrix had flown across the table at her, striking her down with his fist before she even had a chance to fight back. "You forget one thing." He scoffed, kneeling down to her eye level. He leaned in until their lips were almost touching. "She is _our_ daughter."

Winter glared at him, preparing to disagree. Before she could, Matrix had her by the hair and was forcing her to stand.

"Mommy?" Lorelei's scared voice came from the door.

"Lei!" Winter shoved Matrix away and ran for her daughter. She was inches from the door when Matrix grabbed the back of her red dress and pulled her back, hard. "Lei! Run!" Winter screamed as she hit the floor. Matrix bent over her, grabbing her wrists to keep her from striking him.

"You're not very smart." He said, holding her half off the floor by her wrists.

Lorelei ran back to her room, cowering in the corner and covering her ears. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't block out her mother's screams of protest or the sound of her mother's dress tearing.

Finally, it became silent once more. Lei looked up as Matrix paused in front of her doorway, staring at her with a cold look that frightened Lei more than anything. After he had continued down the hall, Lei ran back to her mother. "Mommy?" She asked, tears welling in her six year old eyes.

Winter sat, leaning against the wall, her dress ripped all the way down the front and blood dripping from her lip. "Lei..." Winter began to cry. Lei wrapped her arms around her mother's neck.

"It's ok, Mommy." Lei said trying to comfort her mother.

Winter forced herself to stand, lifting Lei into her arms. She walked back to her own room, setting Lei on the mattress. Winter quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a red tank top. Then, began dabbing her cut lip with a Kleenex. As she sat down beside Lei, her daughter took the tissue and began wiping away her mother's tears. "It's ok, Mommy. See? We get you all cleaned up!"

"Lei... I need you to be a big girl, ok?" Winter looked at her daughter. "You need to be brave, ok?"

She nodded, becoming much more serious than a six year old should ever have to. "We're gonna get out of here, ok?" Winter ran her hand through Lei's red curls.

"Ok." Lei whispered, trusting her mother.

They waited until Matrix had fallen asleep to carry out their plan. They had snuck out of the headquarters rather easily. It was getting train tickets from FH to Esthar that was the problem. Of course, Winter expected that when she had absolutely no money or anything to barter with. Somehow, surprising to Winter, they had managed to sneak into a cargo car of the train and get away with it. Lei slept through the train ride, wrapped in her mother's denim jacket, and her head on her mother's lap. Winter used a tiny pen light to look over the file on the president of Esthar. She held the light close on the clipping of the article.

"Secrets to FH" read the title, in bold letters. Winter read the article, looking for how it could possibly be related to the Organization. She scowled, once again this proved to be another case of Matrix's paranoia. Nowhere in the article did it say anything about the organization.

It did however mention the pub with the out-of-order elevator that worked only for certain mysterious people that none of the locals seemed to know. Winter highly doubted that Laguna was hinting at the fact that this was the entrance to the underground headquarters.

She was jolted from her thoughts as the train came to a stop. She woke Lorelei and they slid off the train, completely unnoticed. "Where awe we going? It's cold." Lorelei asked, as she gripped her mother's hand tighter.

Winter led her down the streets of Esthar toward the presidential palace. "We're going to see a friend."


End file.
